Intentions and Resolutions

It's that time when many people set themselves a list of numerous resolutions, in hope that they would achieve them and maintain them throughout the year. However, from my past experience, this listing down of goals and aspirations often remained just that: goals and aspirations. On a personal level, I felt that setting goals for the long run, made me neglect the possibilities for the short run. I would often find myself resting such aspirations in the back of my mind, with the thought: "if I don't do it now, I can always do it next month." I would feel that I was left with a considerable amount of time for me to fulfil the resolutions I set for myself at the beginning of the year. But I was very wrong.

As days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months, I found myself living in a constant realm of a growing list of things to do. In the end, they were no longer goals, they became burdens: something I felt I owed only to my past self that possessed a hopeful outlook for the year to come. In the process, I neglected my present self, eventually losing grip of the present reality that I lived in, and constantly asking myself, "what do I really want?" And no matter how many times I asked myself that question, I could never provide an answer.

After letting go of my list of new years resolutions and the burdens attached, I found myself possessing a clear mind and a full heart. I brought myself to grow and understand what it was that I wanted. I no longer simply asked myself what it was that I really wanted, but also what my heart desired, what I enjoyed and how I felt in that very moment. To realise what it was that I wanted, I had to open my mind and my heart to a vast array of possibilities. Because if a question cannot provide one simple answer, then comparably, one answer cannot be established by one simple question.

We are in a constant state of change; growing, evolving and moving in a static motion towards a destination that yet remains unknown. We will never remain the same person we were last year and we will never remain the same person we were yesterday. We retain the parts of ourselves that make up our entire being: our personality, our interests, our love towards the people we care for. However there will always be a part of ourselves: an idea, an interest, a feeling, that leaves our souls and vacates a fragment for something new. And that is a beautiful thing.

In a time of listing new years resolutions, my advice is this: accept that the resolutions you list down are subject to change and that is okay. You may indeed fulfil the resolutions you set for yourself, and that is a beautiful achievement no one can ever take away from you. But do not do so out of obligation for your past self. The only person you owe anything to is the person you are now, in this moment. Develop present resolutions, monthly intentions and daily intentions that reflect how you feel and whatever it is that inspires you in this very moment. Every single day that passes is another day for you to fulfil whatever it is that you want to accomplish. In this present moment, you have all the tools you need to do just that. So take a step back and appreciate everything that is in the present and just be: do not burden yourself with what you aspired in the past and do not worry about what it is that your future self may desire. Your past self aspired what they aspired in their time and your future self will do the same. Embrace what it is that your present self aspires and place your energy in this moment; it is a blessing and whatever it is that your heart desires is all that matters in this very moment.